Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Microsoft are selling the Zune HD customizable with a free Valentine’s Day design. Consumers are able to choose from 5 different colors, including a mushy pattern, and can opt in for text engraving on the backside.

You will unlikely be unable to take advantage of the recent price drop for a while because the customizable Zune HD Valentine’s edition is only available through Microsoft directly.

To order your Zune, check out the Zune site for further info.

[source]

Christmas has come and gone, and that Zune HD is not flying off store shelves like it once was. Maybe the novelty has worn off? That’s our theory at least.

In an unexpected move, online retailers Newegg and Amazon have slashed the price of Microsoft’s Zune HD. If you thought after-Christmas specials were the best time to buy a new Zune HD, you might be in better luck if you waited because both online retailers have cut their prices buy around $30-40 USD.

Unfortunately, you might struggle to take advantage of the news if you’re looking for a Zune HD other than the Black 16GB or the Platinum 32GB versions.

[source Engadget]

One of the features that makes the infamous iPod Touch such a dominant player (pun intended) in the market is its application store. Microsoft has proved rather successful with its version of an app store by integrating the Zune HD player with the likes of the XBox gaming system.

The marketplace now has an exciting new app courtesy of Twitter.  All the twitter goodness that you’ve experienced on your Touch is now available on the Zune HD.

While you get all the same great features as seen on other platforms, you might be rather perplexed to discover that your tweets will not be including profanity. Yup, that’s right. The app censors bad words.

We’re not too sure which big cheese come up with the big idea. Free speech? I suppose they’ve not heard of capitalism either (whoops). Nice move Microsoft.

[via SlipperyBrick]

Three new colors are tipped to join the Zune HD line of Microsoft products – Magenta, Red and Purple.  While both Magenta and Purple will appeal to our female counterparts, the Red will be a nice change from the ever-popular Black. There is no news of the Brown come-back, but we’re not complaining.

To coincide, Microsoft are pushing their Zune Pass music service. The unlimited service is on promotion offering a free month’s access with a new Zune HD. After that, it’s a respectable $14.99 per month – in fact, more useful than AT&T’s 3G service!

Unfortunately, don’t expect the Zune HD to follow the Zen X-Fi 2’s price plunge because prices are expected to remain unchanged, but at around $220 for the 16GB model and around $290 for the 32GB version, we won’t be throwing our hands up in the air.

[via SlashGear]

The battle between Apple’s iPod Touch and Microsoft’s Zune HD just got more fierce. Microsoft has announced its intentions of selling the Zune HD outside the the U.S. of A.

Released stateside this past September, the Zune HD is set for release in several countries in the new year including Australia, France, Germany and the U.K.  The news comes as Microsoft has announced the launch of its instant on-demand movie streaming service for the Xbox 360, to be branded as Zune.

Christine Heckart, general manager for TV, video and music marketing at Microsoft, told the Financial Times, “This is a very important step for us to introduce Zune to new consumers around the world.”

The Zune HD has some catching-up to do if it is to tackle the behemoth that is the iPod Touch. According to Wikipedia, Apple has sold over 20 million iPod Touch’s alone. In fact, both the first and second generation Zunes have captured an estimated 2% of the MP3 player market, compared to Apple’s 73%.

[via digitalmediawire]

The Zune HD, the player which we have grown to love, has been put to the toughest of tests.  One consumer, who obviously has lots of money to spare, has decided to test just how scratch-resistant the glossy screen of the Zune HD really is.

The results are quite astounding.  After being put up against a coin, pen, knife, and screwdriver (including being dropped on the floor), the Zune HD was completely resistant to any attempts of the screen being scratched.  Rather impressive, if I do say so myself. If only they could now handle the issues of unresponsive screens…

[via gmp3]